Less than four months after Monash University’s Clayton Campus was selected as the site for Moderna’s new manufacturing facility, construction has now commenced at the site securing access to mRNA vaccines and enhancing medical research and development in Australia.
This will be Moderna’s first manufacturing site to be built in the Southern Hemisphere and the first to be built on a university campus.
Subject to regulatory approvals, the facility is expected to open in 2024, and will produce up to 100 million vaccine doses each year, including vaccines for COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Located within the Monash Technology Precinct, the facility will join a host of world-leading research and technology facilities already established in the precinct, including CSIRO, Australian Synchrotron, Victorian Heart Hospital, and Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication.
“The Monash Technology Precinct brings together some of Australia’s most significant and unique research and technology centres, platforms and facilities to attract innovative and world-leading research and investment in future-focused disciplines,” Monash University President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Gardner AC said.
The facility will be complemented by the Monash Centre for Advanced mRNA Medicine Manufacturing and Workforce training, which Monash is establishing in partnership with the Victorian Government.
“Together, Moderna’s production facility and the new Centre combine two critical elements of an mRNA innovation ecosystem that will deliver long-term health and economic benefits for the community, and strengthen Monash’s position at the forefront of mRNA/RNA therapeutic,” Professor Gardner said.
